ZTE Axon 9 Pro specs: Does it tick all the boxes for a flagship?

The ZTE Axon 9 Pro is a key smartphone for the company in several ways. It’s the manufacturer’s first high-end phone since U.S. sanctions were lifted, and it’s also ZTE’s first traditional Axon flagship since the Axon 7 and Axon 7s.

The Axon 7 stood out thanks to a stacked spec sheet and lower than usual price tag. So how does the Axon 9 Pro compare? Take a look at the full ZTE Axon 9 Pro specs below:

When it comes to flagship-level features, the ZTE device doesn’t disappoint (for the most part). The device comes with a Snapdragon 845 chipset, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 4,000mAh battery. This is pretty much identical to the base model Galaxy Note 9.

The polarizing choices don’t stop there, as the Axon 9 Pro has a rather large notch on its 6.21-inch AMOLED screen (2,448 x 1,080 resolution, 18.7:9 aspect ratio). ZTE is also implementing motion-smoothing tech of sorts for the display, akin to those smooth motion modes on your high-end TV set. This essentially adds extra frames to content, delivering a smoother 60 frames per second. We’ll need to spend more time with the technology before making a verdict.

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Switching to the camera department, the ZTE Axon 9 Pro delivers a dual-camera setup. The main camera is a 12MP f/1.75 shooter (1.4 micron pixels), packing optical image stabilization for reduced blur. The secondary camera is a 20MP super wide-angle shooter (130 degree field of view), so you might not have to step back or squeeze together for that group shot. Otherwise, ZTE is also offering a 20MP front-facing camera for selfies and facial authentication.